How Hip Hop Artists Should Promote Their Music

How Hip Hop Artists Should Promote Their Music

How Hip Hop Artists Should Promote Their Music

MARKETING DESIGN

How Hip Hop Artists Should Promote Their Music
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Over the years, we have had the opportunity to create promotional content for the likes of Johnny Slash, Rasheed Chappell, Jamol Gasol and Reckonize Real. 

 

The trend these days on social media for album promos has opened up the door for a new wave of Creative Designers to collaborate with notable artists and producers, exploring innovative ways of combining visuals and audio to create promotional content for albums, products and apparel.

 

Here are just a few collaborative projects from the team at BTBD.

As you can see, there are many ways we can repurpose your content.


Throughout the years, we have found other Content Creators coming up with innovative ways of creating promotional videos. 

 

Here is a cool stop-motion promo by @mimistopmotion for @kidabstrakt New album Jazzy Vibes.

 

As you can see, the composition takes the viewer on a visual journey.

 

It’s also worth mentioning that an artist should network with Creative Designers and video editors, whose style and skillset can produce the desired result you are seeking for your next album promo. 

 

Here is another example from our latest promo video we created for @bersurke for his latest album Disturbances. This project consisted of repurposing B-roll footage from his last music video.

 

The highlight of this project was the communication between the artist and creative

 

 

Bersurke reached out to our creative team to whip up a simple video with these clear and straightforward instructions, which made it easier for us to create a composition around the content he provided.

 

So you can see the advantage of having an experienced Creative Designer on stand by.

Repurposing Album Artwork

 

As an artist creating your own promotional content, you might have missed some design elements from your album artwork which could be repurposed as a motif throughout your promotional campaign.

 

Motifs sets a “mood” or “atmosphere” visually without taking up too much attention. An example of this can be seen in the Oops! All Bangers Project for Johnny Slash. 

 

We repurposed the blue gradient background layer of his album cover and created lower thirds for his performance videos. 

Another excellent example of repurposing album artwork comes from the music label Chillhop Music.

Their music videos are adored online by millions of subscribers of their YouTube channel. 

 

Chillhop Music collaborates with many illustrators and motion designers to create their trademark music videos. Their vector-based illustrators are consistent with all their album releases.

 

If you are interested in this style of animation, I recommend watching this tutorial on How to Create a Loopable Ambient Scene. 

This video should give you an idea of how vector illustrations can be animated within After Effects. Artists should educate themselves on the process of applying motion to their artwork, as this could spark some new ideas for future projects. 

“Don’t get caught up thinking you have to learn After Effects. Work smarter, not harder and outsource your project.” 

These two styles of repurposing album artwork to create promotional content should get your creative juices flowing. 

 

Next, I want to touch on the subject of DIY design platforms.

DIY Design Platforms

All social media platforms provide Hip Hop artists with an excellent opportunity to promote their music but fall short when the content is not strategically designed.

 

Anyone these days can whip up promotional content online from such platforms like CanvaEasil and stencil. Still, these DIY platforms leave a lot of missed opportunities to maximise engagement to stand out on social media.

 

When creating promotional content from these DIY platforms, remember every other artist has access to their templates, animation presets and pre-made designs. So the odds of looking generic are high.

“Consistency in design is so important when creating promotional content.” 

This helps distinguish between your promotional content from your everyday posts. It’s now time to think outside the box and get creative.

Conclusion

This may seem harsh but as an artist, you need to hear this, let go!

An artist is too emotionally invested with the finished product for them to wear the hat of a Marketer/Designer when it comes time to promote their album.

As a creative agency, we find ourselves in the same situation when it comes time to find music for promotional campaigns. There is an unlimited amount of royalty-free music to purchase online from such sites like SoundstripeEpidemic Sound and Audio jungle, so why would we waste our time making music

By purchasing music from these websites, we’re supporting other fellow creatives.

When you do hire someone to create content for you, remember they’re human. So the lines of communication are always open to discuss your ideas before starting a project. Using a DIY platform can be daunting with no knowledge of design or creative direction. The final result is most likely a hot mess!

Building a strong relationship with a creative agency/Creative Designer can be a valuable asset. We have been creating promotional content for Johnny Slash for over two years now and he too, can see the convenience in having a Creative Designer look after his promotional campaigns.

Need to enhance your content?

Start your next campaign with us

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.

Should I Promote My Products In 3D?​

promote products 3d

Should I Promote My Products In 3D?

MARKETING DESIGN

promote products 3d
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Lately we have had brands enquiring about the benefits of promoting their products in 3D.

Our approach towards creating promotional content by CGI is purely to maximize engagement, while informing your audience about your products, so the viewing experience becomes extremely gratifying and memorable.

“Whether you know it or not, your product conveys emotions.” 

Through visual design, we create the platform for your products, which can help your audience absorb your brand’s message with more enthusiasm.

Eve's Skin
Body Wash Images_
Ms.Lova Body Wash

Product tangibility can help build customer loyalty because it lets them know you have their needs on your mind and appreciate their business. Which, in turn, positively and strongly affects customer purchase intentions.

 

Is it time to ditch your photographer?

You might be thinking it’s time to ditch your photographer.

If you are currently using a photographer for your product promotions, keep them. 

Photographers are the back bone of any online business and do not underestimate the importance of product photography.

“CGI is not to replace photographers but to add another asset to your online business for creative content.” 

Not every post on your social feed has to be CGI renders of your products, but a nice mix of creative imagery can have a direct hand in improving your brands credibility.

Here are three reasons to promote products in 3D.

3 Reasons to promote products in 3D

Modelling products 3d

1. Versatile – Once you have your product modelled in a 3D environment, the possibilities are endless. 

Your audience can view your product 360 degrees, showcasing any other features it may have that would be hidden in a 2D static image. Customizing scenes and backdrops give your promotional content another element of professionalism.

Logo animation of your products can also boost online engagement to add that WOW factor to your promotional videos. 

2. Practical –  If you are about to launch a new product but are unable to hire a photographer in time, then photorealistic rendering can be the next best thing.

Our CGI service also helps to reduce the transportation costs incurred during travelling, and at the same time, it can also help to overcome a lot of transportation hassles that commonly occur during traditional photoshoots.

The only references we need to create a product in 3D are; labels, decals and dimensions, and we’re good to go. 

Eve’s Skin Project is a perfect example of how our team created a CGI promotional video.

3. Affordable – It’s no surprise that significant brands still use 3D animation for their advertisements on T.V. because of its highly engaging capabilities and power to keep viewers entertained.

But now in 2020, it’s an even playing field.

Just like motion graphics are replacing traditional graphic design, 3D animation will become the new standard of promotional content for online businesses. 

Although very few brands you follow may not promote their products in 3D, it does not mean that you shouldn’t consider looking into it. It’s what your competitors are not doing, that leaves an opportunity for your brand to capitalize.

Blog

Top 9 Promotional Videos of 2019

Conclusion

If an image speaks a thousand words, then a 3D render can speak a millon words!

Perception is everything…these days.

With so much pressure from social media platforms asking businesses to post more frequently, is crazy.

Not all social media agencies provide CGI animations with their services. 

So it helps to know as a business owner that there are other alternatives for creative marketing.

Finding a balance of creative content for your audience is crucial for sustaining your followers and generating new leads.

Everyone has static product images, but very few have their products spinning, twisting and opening all within 3 seconds!

It’s time to take your product promotions to the next level of advertising.

Start your next campaign with us

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.

Passion Projects

passion projects

Passion Projects

Push our creativity and receive your project for FREE!

cake boy plant 4

What is Passion Projects?

Each month, we select a creative project that sparks our interest and deliver the project, FREE of charge. Anything from promo videos, logo animation, 3D animation or video editing.

Is Passion Projects for me?

Passion Projects is an excellent opportunity for start up brands or businesses to think outside the box and get creative with their marketing and visual design. 

passion projects

Why Passion Projects?

It has become a monthly exercise our team put time aside for, in the hopes of reaching a new demographic of clients, while giving back to local businesses that don’t have big budgets to spend on marketing and design. 

passion projects

Passion Projects

Push our creativity and receive your project for FREE!

Submit your concept idea to peter@beatthembydesign.com 

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.

3D Logo Environment

3d logo

3D Logo
Environment

3d logo
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The concept of creating a 3D logo environment for a brand has always intrigued the team at BTBD.

We animate logos in 2D when creating promotional videos for our clients, but in this case. A 3D logo environment is the next level of logo animation.

Our team decided to use the logo of Drawn Downunder for this concept project.

Recently we had created a promotional video for the artist, which you can read more about at the Drawn Downunder Project.

During the logo animation stage, the team ask the question “what if we model his logo in a 3D environment?”

So in three days, the project was completed and the results captured a lot of attention on social media. 

The innovation had paid off! 

Drawn Downunder logo has entered the 3D world.

Low-Poly Modelling

Our goal was to create the logo environment in a low poly style of model.

Low-poly models are very popular and that is because they look awesome. They allow you to visualize an object with a very basic geometry without losing its essence.

So let’s dive into the creative process of 3D modelling and gain an understanding of how our creative team can bring your logo into the 3D realm.

But more importantly, incorporating the final render into a composition.

Wireframe

wire frame

A wireframe is a three-dimensional model that only includes vertices and lines. It does not contain surfaces, textures, or lighting like a 3D mesh. 

Instead, a wireframe model is a 3D image comprised of only “wires” that represent three-dimensional shapes.

“Wireframes provide the most basic representation of a three-dimensional scene or object.

Once the shape is created, surfaces or textures can be added to make the model appear more realistic.

Surface Modelling

Surface modelling is the method of showing or presenting solid objects. 

This stage requires us to define the exterior curves and shapes of our objects.

surface

The elements we focused on was the palm trees, rocks and birds.

In the next stage, we apply textures and colours to our surfaces.

Texture Mapping

Now that our 3D objects are completed, it’s time to give life to what looks a grey and boring model.

Every face of our polygon model is assigned a texture coordinate. 

Basically, we are assigning colour through data attributes which allow greater control when calculating lighting.

Lighting The Scene

Just like a photographer sets up his or her scene for a shoot, the same can be applied in a 3D environment.

Having the right lighting will add soft shadows to our objects, which will give a more realistic appearance in the final render.

Final Render

And there you have it!

We hope you have enjoyed this behind the scenes walkthrough. 

Giving our client’s general knowledge of the services we provide, helps form a better productive relationship for future projects.

Through the years we have found that our clients are more creative than led to believe. 

People first need to see what is possible in innovative design to get their creative juices following; then our team takes care of the rest.

The marketing world is evolving every year with new tools, applications and formats for reaching a broader audience. 

But the one thing that stays true is design matters.

So beat them by design.

Need to enhance your content?

Start your next campaign with us

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.

Top 9 Promotional Videos of 2019

top 9 video 2019

BTBD.

Top 9 Promotional Videos of 2019

top 9 video 2019
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2019 was a massive year for the creative team at BTBD.

It’s when we look back and reflect on the projects we have completed for our clients; we get a sense of how lucky we are to be in a position to creatively design content which connects businesses to their targeted audience. 

We create content with the thought of cutting through the noise, which seems to be flooding social media these days and to deliver an informative and engaging promotional video to drive sales.

“Creativity is the force that drives our team.” 

Design is now more than ever at the forefront of content marketing, connecting your brand and service to the millions of people thanks to the reach of social media.  

But with so many businesses running ads and consistently posting fresh content on their Instagram feed, it’s hard not to think you’re falling behind if you are only posting once a week.

Repurpose Everything

We believe quality over quantity is the best strategy for a start-up or any business that thinks they might be falling behind, in terms of content creation.

The more resourceful you are with content as an online business, the more likely you will win the game of staying relevant on social media.

That is why we focus on repurposing content.”

As you’ll soon read, we have created fantastic promotional videos using only four images! 

Selecting our favourite videos of 2019 was a hard task but we got there in the end. 

We have taken the time to reflect on each promotional video and provided some insight into our creative process. This will help you get a general idea of how the team approaches projects and what we specifically look forward to achieving.

1. Elume Candles

This promotional video for Elume Candles was a concept project for the brand. 

For the introduction, we created a logo animation with organic sound effects which complements Elume’s products.

All the content in this video was repurposed from their website and Instagram account. 

Highlight: We utilized individual images of their products to create an eye-catching stop motion reel, displaying their full range of candles. This effect can be viewed 12 seconds into the video.

2. Killer Groom

The concept behind this promotional video for Killer Groom was to present three new products to hit the market. 

The video begins with their signature shotgun sound effect, which then reveals the logo and products, instantly informing the viewer.

Only five images were used for this promotional video. 

Highlight: Converting 2D images into 3D. We achieved this by adding depth of field to each image which gives each product distance between the nearest and furthest when floating in the air.

3. Batch Brewing Co

No project our team works on is ever the same

In this case, the name of the product heavily influenced the audio and composition.

Their New England Sour beer is named Hay Z after the iconic rapper Jay Z. This promotional video had to have elements of hops and Hip Hop.

For the audio we decided on the 99 Problems beat by Jay Z & Rick Rubin. This banging beat was perfect for the video.

Highlight: Repurposing an Instagram story post which had the boomerang effect applied to it. We synchronized the footage to the scratches within the beat. This effect can be seen 10 seconds into the video.

4. Palm Angels

This was a concept video for the streetwear brand Palm Angels.

The release of their highly anticipated Recovery Sneakers, was a great opportunity for our team to create a promotional video showcasing the sneakers. 

With only six images to work with and footage from the 2019 spring-summer fashion show, we had more than enough content to produce a banger of a promotional video.

Highlight: We created transition slides, replicating the straps of each sneaker.

5. Wanderlust Bikinis

This promotional video for Wanderlust Bikinis has a myriad of design gems. We created a project overview which you can read more about.

The team did a great job delivering an eye-catching video that was both informative and visually engaging.

Highlight: This project was the first to feature our new voiceover service. We ended the video by vocalizing the brand’s slogan, which adds a human touch to the overall composition. 

6. Reckonize Real

Reckonize Real reached out to the BTBD team on Instagram enquiring about creating a short promo video for his upcoming album, Bridges and Tunnels. 

Little did we now that the final product exceeded our expectations. We cover the design process of this video in the Bridges and Tunnels project.

Highlights: The comic book style effects and camera motion, gives this video that dramatic feel that suits the genre.

7. Aztek The Barfly

This project for Aztek The Barfly, was the catalyst for composing promotional videos for artists. 

The team discovered new ways of repurposing content from the Ricky Pierce music video to create a banger of video for his social media platforms.

Highlight: The beginning of the video, the lion morphs into Aztek, and at the end, comes face to face with the lion.

8. Johnny Slash

2019 marks our two year creative relationship with beatmaker and producer, Johnny Slash. 

One of the projects that stood out was The Throwback Rack.

The team created a vintage style reel to reel tape player, using Johnny’s beats from his YouTube channel. 

Highlight: Animating the UV meters to sync with the beat.

9. Christmas Gift Box

This video we created for Ms.Lova was to promote her limited edition Christmas gift box. 

The team chose to keep this video clean and simple. 

Highlight: Animating the opening of the gift box to then fade away, was a nice transition to reveal the “coming soon” text.

Start your next campaign with us

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.

Sell Anything With Instagram’s Carousel

Maximize Instagram’s Seamless Multi-Post

BTBD.

Sell Anything With Instagram’s Carousel

Marketing Design

Sell Anything With Instagram’s Carousel
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Instagram’s Carousels allow any account to use multiple media (images or video) in one post.

It’s a cost-effective, concise, and engaging way to communicate your marketing message. No more trying to figure out which picture to post, you can upload up to 10 images inside one carousel.

For this blog post, we are going to breakdown a recent carousel we created for our client Ms.Lova. 

Many businesses are now taking advantage of the carousel feature on Instagram as it’s a highly engaging and interactive format that performs ten times better than regular ads.

Carousel Framework

There is no set rule in constructing an Instagram carousel, but there is a guide you can follow that will build trust even when you want to sell.

instagram carousel framework

Although this guide may seem logical, remember you know your audience better, so don’t keep them hanging when swiping through your carousel. 

Establish from the beginning that your content is of value to them. 

A well designed carousel can get your prospects excited before reaching the action/destination.

Here are three marketing design tips that can increase the “swipe-ability” of your carousel.

1. Use Your Content

There is nothing worse than seeing a business on Instagram not using their content when posting sale promotions.

Stock free images are everywhere on social media these days, and if you want any chance of standing out amongst your competitors, you need to start creating quality content. 

Repurposing higher quality content is much more useful than purchasing a stock image.

Only six images were used to create this Ms.Lova carousel post. 

 

Use images to support your message.

2. Start Strong But Finish Stronger

Having the intro image corresponding with the title, is an excellent way to begin.

Like I said before, don’t waste your audiences time. 

The first slide, we established that Ms.Lova is offering training. The training kit in the second slide gives the audience something tangible to consider with the price. 

Informing your viewers from the beginning and what is in it for them, will increase the chances of them swiping right.

The next slides should focus on the problem and try highlighting keywords for more significant visuals.

We have now presented an alternative to starting your own profitable spray tan business and displayed past students completing the training; it’s now time to deliver value.

Blog

Should I Promote My Products In 3D?

3. Solve Your Audience's Problem

This stage of the carousel is the last chance to show you can solve their problem.

Informative as this carousel is, we are not done yet!

Ask them in the description to take action.

Ms.Lova has asked her audience to tag a friend and comment “Yes Please” in the comment section below.

use instagram description to sell

Final Thoughts

People love to buy but hate to be sold.

Reading the caption while swiping, your audience absorbs the whole story with more enthusiasm.

Try new things, and be creative when posting content on instagram. 

I hope this blog post has opened your eyes to the endless possibilities of repurposing content using Instagram’s carousel.

Need to enhance your content?

Are you ready to sell with Instagram's carousel?

Start your next campaign with us

BTBD.

© 2020 Beat Them By Design. All rights reserved.